Kevin Thom - Hamilton, Toronto, Ontario Photographer

There was a story in the Hamilton Spectator today about the potential changes to traffic in Hamilton if we went ahead with a proposed light rail transit system. Businesses in the city seem concerned about the impact that light rail will have. In my opinion, there will be an impact, but it will be positive.

The thing that excites me most about the proposal is that there will be a pedestrian mall created in the centre of the city. Traffic will be routed around this area, and only the light rail and people on foot will be allowed in. Although this seems radical in our car-centric world, it makes a lot of sense on a human scale, and I think the city will benefit greatly from it. I don’t just say this off the top of my head. I’ve experienced these pedestrian malls in every city in China that I visited, and I found them to be a real eye-opener. In every case, pedestrian malls were the most vibrant hubs of commercial and tourist activity in the city. There were no vacant store-fronts or derelict buildings that are the norm in our North American downtown cores. Businesses were thriving because tens of thousands of people crowd these areas every single day and night to shop, eat and socialize. In each and every city, the real estate in these pedestrian mall areas was the most highly prized… and priced. Pedestrian malls have the potential to become economic engines that drive a city’s economy. Moreover, they can be cultural centres and icons that exemplify a city. Hamilton’s creation of this type of zone would go a long way to erasing its grimy lunch-bucket image.

Having experienced it, it simply makes sense to me now. Pedestrian malls are places where people love to shop because they are not beset on all sides by cars. They’re not choking on diesel fumes and worried about being run over by trucks. They can just relax and enjoy themselves. The result is that people want to be there. When people want to be there, business will want to be there too.

I really hope that Hamiltonians can overcome their fear of change, because the status quo here just does not work. It seems unfair that change is often painted in a negative light in this city. It’s as if people think we’re living in some kind of utopia where milk and honey rain from the skies. We could stand some improvement, and need to look at other places in the world for inspiration. It’s not just China that has had success with traffic restriction in its cities. I’ve heard success stories from London, Copenhagen and other European cities too. I hope Hamilton recognizes that this is a wonderful opportunity to become a leader in North America by embracing this emerging model of urban living.

Here are a couple of photos of pedestrian mall areas in China. After a few cities, I stopped photographing them because it just became such a normal sight. Maybe it will become a normal sight here in Canada too?

One thing that’s been rattling around in my head is a philosophy relating to the composition of Chinese gardens. I read it on a sign in a museum in Suzhou.

So sparse as to let a horse walk. So dense as not to let breeze in.

This principle can also relate to the composition of a photograph, and describes a balance I’ve always tried to achieve in my own work.

I’m writing this entry from home, because the last few days of my trip passed in a blur. During the wedding ceremony, the temperature hit about 41 degrees C. I got a pretty nasty case of heat stroke and passed out. Yikes. That was embarrassing. Fortunately, I didn’t cause a major disruption, and only my friends around me really noticed. I recovered enough to be able to participate in all of the parts of the ceremony I was supposed to, but felt pretty abysmal by the time I got back to the hotel. I missed the reception, which by all accounts was spectacular, and slept for the majority of the next day and a half. Note to self: tuxedos and tropical weather are a bad combination.

I’d given my camera to my good friend Culver to take some photos during the ceremony. He did a great job joining the scrum of photographers surrounding the happy couple, and got some excellent shots. The first eight photos in the gallery below are his. There are a couple of snaps from our dinner at Prime, the steakhouse at the Hilton. The rest of the photos show the Loy Krathong festival in Bangkok, in which you release a floating vegetable and flower sculpture into the river, symbolizing the release of negative energy. It was a beautiful experience, and it was a lot of fun to be able to participate. I took a hair-raising tuk-tuk ride back to the hotel after the festival celebrations. The tuk-tuk actually did a wheelie at one point because of the acceleration, and the wind had my face plastered into a grin. Awesome.

I left for the airport at about 4am the following morning, which was way too early for my 6:30am flight. But, you never know what traffic will be like in Bangkok, and the last thing I’d want to do is to watch my flight take off from the back seat of a taxi. I got to Hong Kong right on schedule, and decided to take a train ride into the city to kill off a bit of my six-hour layover. Hong Kong was as lovely as ever. I spent most of my short visit sitting on the public pier at the Central ferry terminal, enjoying the breeze off the harbour and watching the boats. Hong Kong, like many places in Asia, is undergoing constant and rapid redevelopment. Hong Kong is perpetually reinventing its glistening skyline, with office and condominium towers reaching ever higher.

My final flight home was long and uneventful. The gluten-free meal on the return leg was approximately thirty-five million times better than the one on the way over. This one contained delicious portions of steamed fish, salad, vegetables of many colors, and tropical fruit. Thank you, Hong Kong caterers. You’ve outdone yourself.

Things here in Hamilton seem exactly the same as they were when I left. The stability of Canada is comforting after a month of continuous change. As I sit here now, breathing crisp, clean Canadian air and sipping cold water poured straight from the tap, I can truly say that it’s great to go away, but even better to come home.